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VIDEO: Bridging the Gap Between Disparities in Lung Cancer

Approximately 20% of Americans live in rural areas, which means they have less access to state-of-the-art medical care, specifically cancer care, says Heifetz. This means these patients will also get a delay in optimal care.

The Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center put together a system addressing the 4 major malignancies that comprise 80% of all cancers, which are breast cancer, lung cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, and genitourinary cancer. The center partnered with the University of California, Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center to be a part of their network, which has 4 remote facilities.

Every week, virtual tumor boards are conducted in each of these 4 malignancies for community physicians to gain insight from academic oncologists on patient cases, recent clinical data, and more. These tumor boards became the culture definer for this program, Heifetz concludes.

The Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, located in Truckee California, is committed to providing the highest quality cancer treatment and care to our patients. We strive to offer the most appropriate and current cancer diagnostic and therapeutic modalities in an honest, supportive, respectful and compassionate manner.